Amati sells violins, violas, cellos and bows for every budget and level of skill.
Amati sells violins, violas, cellos and bows for every budget and level of skill, from a child’s first violin to the fine instruments of the professional musician. Our experienced and friendly team is at hand to help throughout the buying process.
Amati holds viewing days where you can examine and try out the instruments we have on offer. If you wish, you can discuss your individual instrument requirements with our specialists or register your interest in a particular sort of instrument with us.
Browsing and bidding for instruments takes place on our Live Online Auction page on the Amati website. We provide expert condition reports for each item, and use the latest 360° photography, giving you all the information you need to bid confidently.
To bid on any of the items (known as Lots) you wish to buy, you need to register as a buyer. We recommend that you register in good time (at least an hour before a lot is due to end), as your registration must be processed before any bids are accepted.
Expert
CONDITION REPORTS
360°
PHOTOGRAPHY
Auction Viewing
Amati sells violins, violas, cellos and bows for every budget and level of skill, from a child’s first violin to the fine instruments of the professional musician. Our experienced and friendly team is at hand to help throughout the buying process.
Amati holds viewing days where you can examine and try out the instruments we have on offer. If you wish, you can discuss your individual instrument requirements with our specialists or register your interest in a particular sort of instrument with us.
Registering to Bid
To bid on any of the items (known as Lots) you wish to buy, you need to register as a buyer. We recommend that you register in good time (at least an hour before a lot is due to end), as your registration must be processed before any bids are accepted. REGISTER TO BID
Placing Bids
Once registered, you will be able to bid for items you want in Amati auctions. You can set your price by selecting a fixed increment from drop-down lists tailored to each lot. Bids can be placed from the time the live auction is published online until the auction closes. Each lot has a specific end time, as indicated by the ticking clock on each lot.
However, should bids be placed in the final 120 seconds, the end time will automatically extend by 5 minutes. This will continue to happen until there is just one bidder left, at which point bidding ceases on that lot.
If you wish, email notifications can sent be sent to you throughout the auction informing you of lots you have won or lots you’ve been outbid on.
After the Auction
Once the auction has finished, you will receive an email informing you if your bid was successful. An invoice will be emailed the day after the auction, or as soon as we have the shipping quotation. We will also include our commission (22% + VAT) on your final, successful bid (the hammer price).
A London collection day at The Langham Hotel is arranged after each auction. Lots for shipping are carefully packed in-house and collected by our shippers a fortnight after the auction end date.
The Aftersales
Occasionally, not all the lots in an auction are sold. If this is the case, we hold bidding open for the unsold lots.
Emails are sent out to the registered bidders straight after the auction is closed. The email lists which lots did not sell and what their estimates were. If you wish to make an offer on any of the remaining lots, contact sarah@amati.com as soon as you can.
Read our Reviews
“James Buchanan was a super nice guy with tons of information at his fingertips. He was efficient and helpful, as well as professional and friendly! It was a pleasure meeting up with him!”
“Just to say thank you to Simon for giving me a valuation on my 2 violins yesterday in Newcastle. His advice was very informative & it was a pleasure to meet him.”
“Thank you very much for your part in arranging our instrument valuation with Simon in Colchester yesterday. The experience greatly exceeded our expectations in the level of individual attention we received and care that he took over explaining the finer details. It was a very enjoyable and enlightening session; please pass on our thanks to him again, Best wishes, Elaine Henson and Stephen Mitchell”
“I would like to thank you and your colleagues for the highly efficient way you have dealt with this sale and for keeping me so well informed from start to conclusion of the sale.”
“I had a very positive experience with Amati who valued my two violins. The administration was very efficient and the location very convenient. I know very little about violins in general but the valuation session with Simon Howes was extremely interesting and informative. The arrangement was offered that I could contact Amati again if I wanted to auction my violins and I would certainly not hesitate to do so.”
“I sold a violin last year through Amati and they recently had my bow valued for free. Oswald, James, Sarah and Charlott are all incredibly helpful, polite, efficient and competent! I most recently spoke to James and he honestly couldn’t have been more helpful and insightful. I’m far from being an expert so it was extremely reassuring when the time was taken to provide me with all the information I could need. Oswald was similarly brilliant last year. As for the auction last year, it went well too and I was happy with the outcome. My thanks to the whole team. Amati is thoroughly recommended!”
“Payment received thank you very much, and thank you for your excellent service.”
“I was impressed with your complete service from my initial email and phone call to the fund transfer and everything in between”
“Many thanks for selling our late father’s violins for us. You did a great job!”
“Have a wonderful weekend and thank you. We are very pleased with what our violins have achieved and we’re happy that they are going to good homes where they are appreciated and played.”
“I look forward to receipt of the amount realised, after deduction for commission due to Amati. In the meantime, I would like to thank you and your colleagues for the highly efficient way you have dealt with this sale and for keeping me so well informed from start to conclusion of the sale.”
“From the first time we met in the valuation of Gothenburg has been a simple and pleasant dialogue on the sale of our items. Many thanks for your help!”
“It’s hard not to be pleased. Straight, clear information and regular updates. I give Charlott and James at Amati honours and my warmest recommendations.”
“Thank you also for your many phone calls and updates by email. This was a new experience for me, and my contact with Amati to date has been enjoyable and stress free.”
“Thank you for your email with the news about the sale of the Paul Bailly violin. It seems quite a good result and I am very pleased with the outcome.”
“Many thanks again to you and your colleagues, especially Oswald for the work undertaken to achieve a very good outcome in the sale of my violin and bow.”
“Wow, well done! Simply amazing, never thought that would happen.”
“I took my violin and a couple of bows to be valued at The Amati Exhibition at The Langham. The service was absolutely excellent. I was also shown the collection of instruments being auctioned and James Buchanan and his colleagues imparted so much knowledge and were really helpful and very friendly. Highly recommended!”
